Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

598 CHAPTER 14 Therapiesgroup therapyA form of psychotherapy that involves oneor more therapists working simultaneouslywith a small group of clients.(Barlow & others, 2007; Craighead & others, 2007; Finney & others, 2007; Wilson& Fairburn, 2007). Cognitive-behavioral therapy can also help decrease the incidenceof delusions and hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms(Kopelowicz & others, 2007; Wright & others, 2009). In part, the treatment involvesoffering patients alternative explanations for their delusions and hallucinations, andteaching them how to test the reality of their mistaken beliefs and perceptions.Group and Family TherapyKey Theme• Group therapy involves one or more therapists working with severalclients simultaneously.Key Questions• What are some key advantages of group therapy?• What is family therapy, and how do its assumptions and techniques differfrom those of individual therapy?Individual psychotherapy offers a personal relationship between a client and a therapist,one that is focused on a single client’s problems, thoughts, and emotions. Butindividual psychotherapy has certain limitations. The therapist sees the client in isolation,rather than within the context of the client’s interactions with others. Hence, thetherapist must rely on the client’s interpretation of reality and the client’s descriptionof relationships with others. Group and family therapy provides the opportunity toovercome these limitations (Norcross & others, 2005).© The New Yorker Collection 2005 Tom Cheney from cartoonbank.com.All rights reserved.“So, would anyone in the group care to respondto what Clifford has just shared with us?”Group TherapyGroup therapy involves one or more therapists working with several people simultaneously.Group therapy may be provided by a therapist in private practice or at acommunity mental health clinic. Often, group therapy is an important part of thetreatment program for hospital inpatients. Groups may be as small as 3 or 4 peopleor as large as 10 or more people (Burlingame & McClendon, 2008).Virtually any approach—psychodynamic, client-centered, behavioral, or cognitive—can be used in group therapy (Free, 2008; Burlingame & others, 2004). And just aboutany problem that can be handled individually can be dealt with in group therapy.Group therapy has a number of advantages over individual psychotherapy. First,group therapy is very cost-effective: A single therapist can work simultaneously withseveral people. Thus, it is less expensive for the client and less time-consuming forthe therapist. Second, rather than relying on a client’s self-perceptions about howshe relates to other people, the therapist can observe her actual interactions withothers. Observing the way clients interact with others in a group may provideunique insights into their personalities and behavior patterns. Sometimes, the groupcan serve as a microcosm of the client’s actual social life (Yalom, 2005;Burlingame & others, 2004).Third, the support and encouragement provided by the other group membersmay help a person feel less alone and understand that his or her problems are notunique. For example, a team of family therapists set up group meetings with familymembers and co-workers of people who had died in the attacks on the WorldTrade Center (Boss & others, 2003). The therapists’ goals included helping the familiescome to terms with their loss, especially in cases where the bodies of their lovedones had not been recovered. One woman, who had lost dozens of co-workers, someof them close friends, explained the impact of the group sessions in this way: